home-made grinder

A

Alex C.

Joined
Apr 27, 2005
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170
Hey ya'll I was wondering how many of ya'll use a homemade grinder for your primary knifemakin machine. being chronically broke as I am, i don't really want to think about buying a new one.....
alex
 
concidering the speed the wheel turns, and the number of body parts that can get in the way of things comming apart, id look around for a good grinder.
check out yardsales and garrage sales. ask around , some one you know may have a spare they can give or at least loan you till you can get one.
 
There are some pretty low priced units out there in 1X30 and 2X48.While they are not KMG's,they will work for those on a tight budget.The belts are the main cost in the long run.I could buy a grinder a year for the price of all the belts I use.A home made grinder may cost you as much as a cheap HF or Sears unit.
 
building grinders is fairly easy if you have a mechanical aptitude.

Here's a good source for parts. You can screw around looking for the parts of other machines or just buy some from Rob and get er done. Robs a great guy to do business with.

http://www.beaumontmetalworks.com/
Iv'e built four grinders using ever thing from skate board wheels to mdf wheels. They all work bu the best machine I built using the platen from Rob, (McCaffrey style)

This is by far the best of the homebuilt tracking devices.

http://www.mstarling.com/tool_plan_index.html

I used the bearing out of a worn out water pump for my assembly. the water pumps usally go bad because of the seal. the bearings are just fine unless they are "crunchy" You buy bearings just as easy but I like scrounging. :D

There is alos a Yahoo email list on homebuilt grinders.
 
Alex C. said:
Hey ya'll I was wondering how many of ya'll use a homemade grinder for your primary knifemakin machine. being chronically broke as I am, i don't really want to think about buying a new one.....
alex
Click to expand...

Hey man,
I use a homemade disc snader with an old 1 horse motor running it. It is my primary grinder although I also have a 1 x 42 grinder with a 1/3 hp motor which is pretty much gutless. I only use it to square things up a little better if need be do to my crude disc sander platens. Here's a pic. I don't have a reversing motor so in order to have the disc spinning down on what I'm working on I had to add a second disc on the other side. Now both sides of the blade can be ground without having to use the up spinning side of the disc if that makes any sense to you. I find it works very well. You'll go through a bit of sandpaper but I can still put the rough grinds on a 4" knife in less than an hour. Some may think that's a long time for one knife but I go for quality not quantity. Hope this helps. Take care.

Mike Coughlin
 
hey thanx for all the tips guys, at present i'm using a POC belt sander i bought at lowes for like $35 lol so anything's a step up. i dont really want to buy somethin from sears or HF because i'm pretty sure that if i spend not a whole lot more money, i can make myself somethin that'll fill my needs and will run better than anything i can get at a store. maybe i'm dissalusioned, but the $50 knife shop says i can do it lol.
alex
 
hey Alex,i built a couple and and they've been going for a couple of years.only way i could get started.if you have the want-to's bad enough, the can-do's will come.good luck ps i've got the best tracking device,don't listen to sweany,he's from oklahoma.
 
I got a lot of my ideas from the $50.00 Knife Shop.

Grinders are pretty simple machines. keep ever thing round and in line and it will work.

Wayne didn't even use a welder in most of his grinders. Personally I'm a wore out old weldor so I use a welder. :D
 
Tom, I wasn't listenin to him anyway. psh, oklahomanians, or oklahomaphobes, or whatever ya'll call y'selves. ;) sweany, I'm plannin to do as much as i can w/o welding as, since i don't have a welder, it saves me money. :D lol i've come to the opinion that the junk pile Wayne keeps talkin about, is bigger than my house.
on another note, what do ya'll use for the structure of your grinders? what do you recommend? thanks again.
Alex
 
Tom, what does your tracking device look like? I'm in the planning stages and I'm lookin' at everything that I can...
-Mark
 
Here is pic of my MMG (Mighty or Mickey [however you interperate it :D ] Mouse Grinder), this is blatant ripoff of Rob Frink's KMG. I bought the wheels and the platen frame assembly from Rob, who is a very nice guy.

The whole grinder cost less the $250.00, with the wheels being the most expensive purchase. As grinders operate at high speed I decided to get quality wheels to drive this machine, that is why I got them from Rob.

The 1 1/2 HP treadmill DC motor and controller were bought from Surplus Center for less than $100.

http://groups.msn.com/BladeBlacksmithing/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=59

Larry T
 
How 'bout teach a stupid newbie about motors? what kind of motor would you recommend and why? what's the difference between AC and DC motors? why would i want one over the other? I'm not considering anything less than 1 1/2 HP, preferably 2+....:cool: what do i need to know?
alex
 
Alex C. said:
How 'bout teach a stupid newbie about motors? what kind of motor would you recommend and why? what's the difference between AC and DC motors? why would i want one over the other? I'm not considering anything less than 1 1/2 HP, preferably 2+....:cool: what do i need to know?
alex
Click to expand...

Hmmm, well I’m pretty much in the same boat as you are Alex, I really don’t know too much about the motor that you might want to use for the grinder that you make/procure/what ever. 1 ½ HP or 2 + is good though, as they say “the bigger the better.”:D

I use the DC variable speed motor cause when hogging out a billet to remove a lot of steel, I use a high RPM with 36 or 60 grit to get the metal off fast. When it’s time to get to the finer grit for the detailing portion of the blade I use the finer grit at a lower RPM. An AC motor is usually one speed and step pulleys are employed to change the SFPM of the belt, where as with a DC motor changing the speed can be done by just turning a dial (not having to turn the machine off to change speed).

There was a thread a couple of years ago by Dan Koster “KMG on a shoestring”, this is where I got the information on the drive system for my grinder. This setup is good for me right now, I don't lean into it enough to stop the machine, whereas some makers could stop a 2 HP motor

I’m sure someone with more expertise in this area may help answer your question.

Larry T
 
all my grinders are homemade.....yet they still costed me around 750-1000 to make but then they fit excaclty like I want them..!
 
ITS OKIES.:p

LIke in Okie from Muskogee. Hi Tom :D :D

Several years ago in "Wood" magazine they built a combo disc and belt sander out of plywood ,oak and MDF IIRC.

Build it out of whay you save, sell knives save your money build or buy a better one. :D

I think I have about $300. in my last one.
 
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